


Restoring Balance

by ViceAdmiralSpyglass



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Light fury, Night Fury, skrill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26862874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViceAdmiralSpyglass/pseuds/ViceAdmiralSpyglass
Summary: Another day, another job. He wasn't looking forward to this one, but at least it would be over quickly. Everything went as planned, until he found the artefact he was paid to destroy. No mission he ever went through could prepare him for the events that unfolded, when he awakened the being waiting to be released in its concrete tomb.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	1. Old City

The tunnels were damp and dark. Full of radioactive spiders and rats as big as small dogs.

The old civil defense shelters under Liberec were one of the most creepy places Hans had the displeasure of exploring. Only their flashlights and some strange fluorescent mushrooms illuminated the corridors. Sounds of their footsteps, their breathing and sounds of their equipment and occasional scuttling in the distance were the only things that could be heard in this godforsaken place. None of them spoke, they were too focused on listening for threats that could jump at them from any of the side rooms and tunnels.

Hans was sure that his knuckles were snow white underneath his gloves, and that the grips of his rifle would soon break from the pressure. There was something about this place, it was getting on his nerves. But for their glorious leader, he would prevail. He was dead set on finding the artifact that was hidden somewhere under Liberec, and with its power they would finally defeat all the low life's and scum that occupied the Lebensraum, which was rightfully theirs.

,,How close are we?'' But even though he loved his country, he would be glad to leave this concrete tomb and never return. ,,If we keep our pace, we should reach the artefact in half an hour, sir.'' Hans let out a relieved sigh. ,,How about the other groups, have they found it?''

There was a silence for a minute. ,,Well? Answer me!''

,,I can't reach Captain Wilhelm's squad sir.'' Herrman's voice was shaky, and for a good reason. Even though they were under ground and separated by several layers of concrete, Herrman should have been able to reach the squad closest to them. Contacting the HQ was impossible, that's why the stalker squads positions were laid out like a spider's web. Han's however refused to succumb to the cold hands of fear that were trying to take a hold of his mind. Each group consisted of six stalkers, the leader of the group, a radio operator, a demolitions expert, two riflemen and a medic. ,,We just talked with them minutes ago! Someone else try it!''

Three different variations of ,,sorry sir, I can't contact them either'' was the answer. Han's froze. Not because his squadmates were unable to reach Wilhelm's but because _four_ people should have answered to his command, not three. ,,Where is Walter?''

Deafening silence encompassed the 5 stalkers. It was then that Hans noticed that they reached a section with several side rooms. By the old rusting bunks in them they must have served as some sort of barracks, or perhaps an infirmary? ,,I don't know, wasn't he behind you Lucas?''

,,I think so, but the last I heard him speak was, like, five minutes before we stopped.'' Their voices were laced with fear. At any moment and at any time, any of them could dissappear into the darkness, never to be heard from again.

Hans sensed that his stalkers were slowly descending into panic, and truth to be told, he was too. He felt watched, hunted, but could not see anybody besides Herrman, Lucas, Wolf and Neumann. Then, Neumann looked into one of the side rooms. ,,I-I think i found Walter!'' Hans quickly made his way next to Neumann, who was staring at Walter's corpse. The fear in his eyes was visible even through the dirty lenses of his gasmask. Walter also had a bloody gash where his neck should have been. He could hear sounds behind him. Only a couple of thuds, and assumed that it was the rest of his squad coming to investigate.

Neumann was about to say something, but was interrupted. Hans turned his head at him, wondering what caused him to go silent mid word. That was when he noticed it. Two, bright green eyes right behind Neumann. Hans raised his rifle and managed to fire a burst at the glowing green orbs. The bullets missed, and the thing behind Neumann threw his body at him. Neumann's body was completely limp.

,,Herrman, Lucas, Wolf! Come help me and cover your backs!''

Silence.

Hans was sure that the thing that got Walter and Neumann took the rest of his squad as well. Nobody was answering his calls. ,,Show yourself you fucking coward!'' He would avenge his squadmates. He would make the thing suffer before sending it straight to hell.

But more silence was the answer to his challenge. ,,Come on! What are you waiting for? Bring it on you son of a bitch!'' His angry yells echoed through the seemingly empty corridors of the fallout shelter. He could hear only his heavy breathing, muffled by the rubber of his gas mask. But then Hans heard it, a whisper, one he could barely hear over his panicked breathing.

He spun around to shoot whoever was behind him, but before he had the chance to pull the trigger, the thing grabbed the barrel of his rifle, forcing it to aim at the ceiling. Before Hans had the chance to do anything, he had a bayonet stuck between his ribs, the monster's green eyes stared into his own as he died.

* * *

Once Groza was sure the nazi stalker was dead, he pulled his knife out of the corpse and wiped the blood off on the stalkers uniform before sheathing it. That was the fourth patrol he sent to the underworld. He sat down on the captain's corpse, preferring it over the cold, hard concrete. After forcing himself to calm down, he noticed that his hand was still shaking. In fact, his whole body was.

Not from adrenaline. From fear.

The darkness of the tunnels, even though broken by the soft, green glow of the mushrooms felt suffocating. Every second Groza was down there, it felt like the darkness was trying to convince him to join one of the hundreds of corpses he knew were still where they were left thirty years ago. But he could not, would not do that. He had a promise to keep and a mission to complete.

So with a groan, Groza got up and continued towards his target.

Groza was paid to destroy the same artefact the damn nazis were after. From the details given to him by his klient, he found out where to find it and it's brief history. It was discovered by the Russians, and sent to the Visegrád alliance in hopes it would help them defeat the western allies, but the war ended before it could be used. Which was probably a good thing, because if the Nazis were willing to go to this place to get it, it must have been a powerful weapon.

A short run and a few empty shotgun shells later, Groza found himself in front of a heavy steel gate. The tunnel was wide here, wide enough for a tank. That was a surprise, never before had he seen a corridor like this one in the civil defense shelters. It must have collapsed somewhere because there surely must have been a less difficult way to get to the rusting gate in front of him. Groza made his way to a smaller door that was for some reason opened, not that he complained. Trying to blow the airlock open would blow him up as well.

Even though the door was opened, the gap wasn't large enough for him, so he had to push with all his strength to widen the gap at least so he could barely slip inside. Groza found himself in a big domelike chamber, there was a strange device in the middle of it, connected to several large cables. Something like a control room could be seen on one side of the chamber, high enough so that anyone who was in it could see the whole chamber with ease.

The big device in front of him was no doubt the thing he was tasked with destroying. So he grabbed some Semtex explosives from his bag and began planting them. He, of course, had no idea what would happen after the timer he set ran out, maybe it really was a new type of a nuclear bomb and he would erase half of Europe from existence, or it would be only the Semtex doing the exploding and nothing else would happen.

But as he touched the machine, something unexpected happened. It started to glow faintly. Groza took his night-vision goggles off and made sure he wasn't hallucinating. But the soft blue glow was very real. On one side, he noticed, the glow was stronger, and after further investigation he found there was a small hole, through which he could reach inside.

Why he did exactly that, Groza didn't know. When he reached inside, there was something removable, and even though all of his survival instincts screamed at him to get from the glowing thing as far away as he could, because glowing in this world meant deadly radioactive, his curiosity got the better of him. After pulling his hand out, he laid eyes on the glowing object, that was no doubt the most important part in the weapon. It had the shape of a crystal, maybe a centimeter shorter than his forearm. Strange runes were engraved in it, and it was warm. Groza pulled off one of his gloves, despite knowing that doing that could be a death sentence.

The moment his bare fingers made contact with the warm, glowing, sky blue crystal, the glow suddenly grew to a point where it blinded him in a split second. It was like getting flashbanged, but worse. Groza couldn't hear or see anything, the world was white, and his head was in agonizing pain. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out of his mouth. And then suddenly it all ended. He could see and hear again, the agonizing pain in his head turned into a slightly annoying dull pressure. He got up on his knees, the crystal was lying on the ground in front of him. He wasn't going to touch that thing without gloves again.

_,,You… are… different…''_

Groza's mind immediately cleared again, acting on his instincts he grabbed his Saiga and started searching for the one who spoke. But those words sounded like they were everywhere around him. He also got a feeling like he heard the voice before, but couldn't remember when or who it was.

_,,Down… here…''_

Had he gone insane? There was no way the crystal was speaking to him. _,,Do not worry… you… still are… quite sane...''_ Groza hadn't spoken any of his thoughts aloud, and if the crystal was to be believed, the only logical explanation was that it was in his head. That would explain the pressure.

The feeling that he met the thing that was speaking to him before only made the pressure in his head worse again. The memory seemed important, but escaped his grasp like a slippery bullet casing. Sensing it just at the edge of his mind was pure torture.

Before Groza could ask any of his many questions, the crystal spoke again in a tired voice. _,,It has been… a very long time… my child.'' Confusion._ It washed over him like a wave, and he got the feeling that it wasn't his own. Groza, of course, had never been so confused before in his life before, but this was different. Alien.

_,,This certainly… is an… interesting situation. However… we should… leave this place.''_

Groza nodded, retrieved his glove and put the crystal carefully into the space created by the lack of explosives. After arming the explosives properly, he ran to the exit, slipped through and ran to the closest exit from the shelters. _,,I sense many in these halls who would wish you harm. I will warn you if they get too close.''_

That was not ideal. He didn't trust whatever that crystal contained, but it seemed that he didn't really have a say in the matter now. Buty Crystal quickly proved he was trustworthy, warning or redirectinghim from any dangers that Groza would otherwise run into. It was not that he was unprepared to shoot down anything that could lurk in this corpse filled hellhole, but saving ammunition was always the preferable option.

After a surprisingly short while, Groza decided to take his mind off navigating, since Crystal was entirely capable of doing it for him, and focused on the new part of his mind. Never before had he felt anything remotely close to the new feeling in his head. Or did he? Trying to reach the pulsating pocket felt familiar, like he had done it thousands of times before. Like when he heard Crystal voice for the first time, the memory always slipped away from his searching fingertips.

Crystal noticed this. For some reason, Groza could tell. From the way the pocket shifted and the feelings dimly emanating from it changed in the slightest of ways. It was like trying to read someone's face while negotiating a trade deal. Sophisticated, but easy once one knew what to look for. _How do I know what to look for?_

 _,,Do not worry, every one of your questions will be answered.''_ Somehow, Groza was weirdly fine with Crystal being in his head. After all, what could the being do to him that he had not experienced before? _A fucking lot!_ He decided not to listen to his survival instinct this time. It was better to worry about more pressing issues, like getting out of this cursed place.

_,,Something very bad happened here.''_

,,You have no idea.'' Before Groza could stop himself, the words already left his mouth. Crystal's response, however, shocked him to his core. _,,I do. Their souls still roam these tunnels. Listen to the metal on the walls.''_

By that he must have meant the pipes. Groza stopped his run, found a patch of pipes without any moss or spiders, and placed the side of his head as near the metal as he was comfortable. A chill passed through him and he quickly scrambled away from them. He really did hear it. Heard them. Whispers, moans and wails.

 _,,This does not happen often, I have only seen a handful of places like this, where unspeakable tragedies occured. Unfortunately we cannot do anything for them now.''_ That was terrifying. Not only did he have armed explosives rigged to explode very soon, but apparently he was surrounded by the spirits of his fellow citizens. Groza ran a fair bit faster after that thought sank in.

Neither of them said anything again, until Crystal called out more enemies. _,,Three, in that room to your right, they must have heard you run.''_ He only grunted a single affirmative and slowed down until his footsteps could be barely heard.

Once Groza was close enough, he threw a grenade in. Panicked shouts could be heard until an explosion silenced them. Once it went off, he quickly followed it. One stalker had a red paste where his chest used to be, he must have sacrificed himself for his comrades. A shame that his death would be in vain. Once he left the room, now two shotgun shells shorter, Crystal spoke again.

_,,You certainly are merciless.''_

It was said matter of factly, without a hint of anger or disgust. ,,I don't want to get shot in the back.''

Before long, the only thing separating them and the outside was a heavy steel door. It wasn't Groza's preferred route, but it would have to do. He didn't want to fight his way through a whole division. Once they were outside, he let out a breath of relief and leaned on the closest standing wall. It felt like a mountain was raised off of his chest, and Groza could now freely breathe again.

The skies were turning from light blue to soft orange, not a cloud in sight. It was a beautiful day outside. Ironic, given the ruins around them. Collapsed walls or whole buildings around them, crater filled streets, corpses and ruble were everywhere. A helicopter was sticking out of a particularly tall building in the distance. It was all deathly silent, only ruble occasionally shifting in the gentle breeze disturbed the silence.

Even though he was tired, Groza continued on the way to his truck again. It was not very far now, only a short jog away. He sensed that crystal wanted to say something about their surroundings, how he knew what Crystal wanted to say was lost him. But suddenly Crystal again proved his trustworthiness.

_,,The building on the end of that street, I sense a group of six.''_

Groza put the saiga on his back, held in place by a leather belt. Instead of the auto shotgun, he clutched a BREN battle rifle in his hands. He didn't really want to kill them, but as luck would have it, they were in his way. Instead of going in the street, he entered a mostly intact building and ran to the second floor. A perfect vantage point. Crystal was able tell him exactly from where they would enter his view.

Out of one door, all six of them spilled out, checking all angles through the sights of their rifles and smgs. Groza opened fire, killing the first one with a bullet to the head. The second he got in the throat and the third in his side. Those who remained quickly ducked into cover. His scope magnifier was able to tell him that someone was trying to rescue their fallen comrades. One of the Stalkers jumped out of cover towards the one he got in the side and started dragging him behind the closest rubble pile.

Groza knew what role he had. And found out he couldn't pull the trigger when several opportunities presented themselves to tag his head. Every time he tried to pull the trigger so he could put and end to the medic, he was reminded of _him_. It frustrated him beyond belief, and he decided to take his frustrations out on the commander poking his head out for everyone to see.

The bullet missed and Groza groaned. He had to switch positions now. They had to have a sharpshooter hidden somewhere that was now finally making himself known. With Crystals help he avoided the sharpshooters bullets and flanked the remaining Stalkers. The sharpshooter was first. Groza chucked a grenade at a window from which he saw a black rifle barrel poke out, and then put a burst from his battle rifle through the commander's chest.

The only ones left were the injured one and the medic. _,,Behind that pile.''_ Groza decided to let them live. They were probably having enough problems to prevent them from shooting him in the back. As quietly as he could manage he crept off towards his truck.

 _,,Not as merciless as I thought.''_ Groza rolled his eyes at Crystal's chuckle and focused at being stealthy.


	2. Redemption

The sun was slowly making its way further under the horizon when Groza and his magical companion made it to the outskirts of the old city. Crystal had been silent the whole ride through Liberec, probably sightseeing.

_,,What happened to this place?''_

,,I don't know the specifics.'' Groza paused, remembering. ,,All I know is that it was once a really beautiful city, that the Visegrad alliance wasn't willing to give up.''

_,,So it was war that doomed this city and its people.''_

,,A lot of what happened after helped too.''

_,,Elaborate please.''_

Groza winced at that. He didn't really want to tell Crystal about that, but he would have to tell him eventually. Or he could just pull it from his head, which was an extremely uncomfortable thought. So he tried to dodge the topic as best as he could.

,,Who and what are you, anyways?''

 _,,I am Dayaxa, god of the dragons. I was one of the overseers of this world.''_ If the being that laid safely among his saiga magazines noticed why Groza changed the topic, he didn't show it.

That was a lot to take in. _God? Dragons? One of two?_ Groza had to sort his priorities first, and doubted Dayaxa would or could answer all of his questions.

,,So, who's the other guy, and why did you let the third world war happened the way it did?''

 _,,The other overseer was Riv, he is the god of the humans.''_ Groza noticed the anger that practically dripped from that sentence, there had to be some kind of disagreement between the two of them. _,,As for your second question, I am unable to answer that, since I do not know when, or how this war happened.''_

,,Well that is a long story, but I can tell you all about it when we get to my place.''

Dayaxa hummed in agreement, the sudden anger from before dissipated just as quickly as it had arrived. _,,I will answer all your questions, in return.''_

Groza only nodded, fully focusing on the road ahead. It wasn't a long drive to his favorite hideout, but the road got increasingly difficult to navigate the farther they got from the city. Not many nuclear warheads hit Czechia during the second year of the war, since the only important strategic targets were the capital and the armory in Brno. That was many years ago, and while the old cities crumbled and fell due to the radiation, somehow nature started to thrive on it.

The forests that were seemingly withering away, turned into lush jungles and were a stark contrast to the cities. Especially during the night. The forests were bright, colorful, and full of life altered by radiation, meanwhile the cities were dark and dead. Trees got bigger, their branches were now able to support even the most heavily armored humans with ease, and some were as wide as a road. The animals that were dying by the hundreds suddenly got stronger with every year, just as their numbers.

Groza's main base was in one of those jungles not far from Liberec. Not many knew about that place, and those who knew never visited.

Dayaxa stayed silent even as they got deeper into the forest that had grown over the former military base. Many thought it was impossible to go through it with anything bigger than a quad bike. The tall pines were clustered close together, with massive blueberry bushes and glowing moss between them. Groza, however, managed to find and create passages and roads for his truck. After an hour and a half of navigating through the jungle, they suddenly found themselves on a clearing, with something taking up most of the space on it.

_,,What is that?''_

,,That my friend, is a downed gunship.''

 _,,What is a ship doing here, of all places?''_ Dayaxa was greatly confused, but just as curious. _,,I don't see any water anywhere near.''_

Groza chuckled at that, but he had to admit the name was a bit misleading. ,,No, it's an aircraft the Westerners were extremely happy to use wherever they could. I've been told it has been quite effective during the war.''

_,,I see.''_

The gunship was overgrown and rusting heavily, but it was more than good enough for Groza. There wasn't a lot of space inside, even though it had been stripped of anything useful long before he claimed the place as his own. There was a workbench, a radio, a fireplace, several cratefuls of ammunition, some small drawers and a couch inside.

After parking the truck under one of the wings held in the air by several thick wooden poles, Groza hopped out, put a tarp over the Kord machine gun on the roof and with his backpack in hand crawled into the aircraft. It was already dark out when they arrived, and stars started to show themselves slowly. Groza knew the night sky was beautiful at this time of the year, but he doubted he would get to go stargazing tonight.

It was dark inside, but that quickly changed when he turned on the generator. It only supported a table lamp on his workbench, but combined with the fire that was soon feasting on the dry wood in the small fireplace, it was enough to push the dark away. He then pulled off his white rubber gas mask and changed into some more comfortable clothes.

,,So, now that we have nothing to worry about, at least for tonight, I'll tell you what was happening these past few decades.'' Dayaxa stayed silent but Groza knew he was listening.

,,I wasn't around yet when the world went south, and not many people talk about the war nowadays, though i'm not surprised. Everyone lost someone either in the war, or in the clusterfuck that followed the nuclear bombings.''

_,,How many dead were there?''_

Groza pitied Dayaxa, because unlike him, Dayaxa didn't have the option of numbing the weight of his next words with the only slightly radioactive alcohol. ,,Milions, from what I've heard. Thousands more died to radiation poisoning, bandit raids, starvation and illnesses. Nobody knew what they would do next. Luckily, what remained of the army and URNA took control.''

,,Some countries fell to chaos, some adopted new regimes and some completely disappeared. Nobody cared until their new neighbors started stealing and claiming their stuff for themselves, and so the war started all over again.'' As he talked and sipped on his drink, Groza cleaned his beloved weapons. His shotgun came first, then his pistol and last the battle rifle. He didn't really need to focus much on the task, since he did it literally thousands of times before.

,,But that was years ago, there aren't any big ground battles happening anymore. Only now and again the Reich get's bold and throws a few people at URNA's territories, or some other faction. Everyone satisfies their bloodlust at the Proving Grounds these days.'' The Proving grounds. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how many years have passed, that place still haunted his dreams. Like a radioactive cloud, the memories hung over his head and refused to go away.

 _,,What are the Proving Grounds?''_ Dayaxa's voice was filled with worry. Everything Groza told him so far hinted, that whatever this was, it probably was nothing good.

A sigh escaped Groza's lips. ,,The majority of people who go there don't have anything to lose. Convicts, former soldiers or slaves.'' Dayaxa watched with curiosity as Groza reached for something in his breast pocket. He pulled out a red and white metal badge, small enough to fit in his palm. Dayaxa now also noticed he had the same one on the shoulder of his jacket, but made out of some fabric, the badge was dominated by a long, white skull with downward curved horns on a blood red background.

,,People go there for glory, money or to just satisfy their kill hunger.'' Groza's voice was heavier than before. ,,The last one standing wins, and takes a pretty attractive prize with them.''

, _,I assume you've been there and won?''_

Groza nodded. ,,Three times, the first time by pure luck. After the third win I had enough.''

_,,One would think winning once was enough.''_

,,Maybe, but I needed insurance. With the money I made from my first game I had enough to buy slightly above average gear, a place to sleep and some much needed meds.'' Those times were… interesting. He didn't really care that much if he was going to die the next day, but if he wanted to achieve the goal he set for himself back then, he would have to at least survive the night.

_,,And how do you get by now?''_

,,All sorts of things. Assassinations, scavenging hunts, pest extermination, typical mercenary stuff.''

But before Dayaxa could ask him more, Groza quickly asked a question of his own. ,,And what about you? You mentioned being a god or something.''

 _,,Yes, in the beginning it was just me and Riv. Who created us, I never knew, and never much cared. Me and Riv disagreed quite heavily when sculpting this world and its inhabitants, but I personally think that's why it is so beautiful, or at least was.''_ Dayaxa's voice was filled with sadness the more he spoke of days long past. _,,I created the dragons, Riv the humans. Everything was calm between us for a while, until Riv told me to meet him on earth. We haven't talked for a while and everything was going more or less fine, so I had not suspected anything.''_

Groza didn't like where this was going. He was through several failed deals, and this sounded like one of the more textbook situations. , _,When I got there, Riv immediately attacked me. He convinced himself that I and my dragons were too much of a threat to him and his humans. We were equal in strength back then, but he caught me by surprise, defeated me and imprisoned my soul in this crystal. I didn't even manage to escape back to my moon.''_

 _,,That was one us and a half thousand years ago. Riv used my power since then to alter the world many times. His first step was to slaughter every dragon that lived at the time, and made sure none would live in the future.''_ Heavy silence fell over them both. Groza didn't really know what to say, he was not expecting that. Well, he didn't really know what he was expecting.

Suddenly a thought popped into his head. How could he have forgotten about that? But how to spin the question so he wouldn't reveal too much? Groza wasn't comfortable with Dayxa enough yet to tell him his past. ,,If he wanted to get rid of you because you were a supposed threat to humans, why the fuck did he let humanity do the shit it did to itself?'' Damm it. That wasn't as subtle as he wanted it to be.

_,,Many things can change in a millennium. Maybe Riv went insane, or maybe bored? I have no idea.''_

The possibility that everything that happened to him and later his squad because some fuckstick was _bored_ enraged him even more. But a generous gulp of vodka calmed him down. Dayaxa had to suspect something by now. Groza decided not to dwell too much on that, and rather continued talking.

,,Why didn't he just kill you? Wouldn't that be easier?''

 _,,It certainly would be, however, he would unbalance the world so much, that it would shatter completely And he needed me as a power source for his reshaping of the world.''_ It seemed weird that he knew that. Didn't he mention that he never knew and cared who created them? And if he didn't know that, how could he know what would happen if one of them got killed completely? Groza voiced his thoughts to him, and Dayaxa sounded a bit confused too. _,,Some things I just knew from the moment I was aware I existed. Maybe it is some sort of instinct? I will probably never know.''_

Groza didn't really know what to ask after that explanation. He couldn't yet entirely accept that this was all real and not some chemically induced hallucination. Gods, dragons, telepathy, how was he supposed to return to his normal life after knowing all that? He already knew the answer. He couldn't. He had another revenge to plot.

,,Is there any way we could undo all of what that motherfucker did?''

_,,There is, but it would be extremely dangerous. Why?''_

Somehow, he could feel Dayaxa's surprise and confusion. Maybe it was the link. ,,In that case, I want to help.''

Shocked silence followed Groza's statement, after few minutes Dayaxa pulled himself together and asked him why. Why would a mortal want to challenge a god? ,,I'll probably die trying, but I want to get revenge. For the things we had to through.'' He would probably reveal too much, but he couldn't find it in himself to care at this point.

_,,Revenge won't bring the dead back."_

,,I know.'' He had this talk with Emil once already.

 _,,I can't guarantee that both of us will get through this.''_ Groza only nodded this time, staring at something flat and silvery in his hand. ,,I don't have much time anyway. The radiation surely fucked me up good. The meds are just delaying the inevitable." _And i want to redeem myself._ Dayaxa could sense the determination. He also could sense his other emotions, and they made him curious about his past more and more. But by all the hints the mercenary gave him, he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe someday in the future, if their mission went well.

 _,,Fine then. First, we will need to restore me to my former power.''_ Riv probably knew that he was awake, but Dayaxa had no idea where he could be.

,,How are we gonna do that?''

_,,I draw my power from the moon. There is a limit, but since I haven't used my power since a thousand years ago, I should have enough power to defeat him."_

When it was put like that, it sounded ridiculously easy. Dayaxa's brother, by the way the world looked like, probably didn't use his powers much as well. ,,How does that power thing work?"

_,,Every time we want to alter the world in some way, like creating new creatures, plants, landmasses, we have to use our power. How much power we use depends on the task, creating a pebble won't do anything to me, but building a mountain from the ground up will make me feel a little tired. If we use too much of our power, we fall asleep and wake up after several hundred years, which could have devastating consequences."_

They both witnessed how those consequences looked, Groza more maybe more than the godly being on his work table. ,,Anyways, I got sidetracked, how do we return your powers?''

 _,,It's easier said than done. We will need to get to the closest ritual grounds, and from there I'll be able to break myself free.''_ Immediately after Dayaxa finished speaking, Groza started rummaging through some of his stuff at a different section of the gunship. After a few spilled bullet pouches and a colorful string of curses he finally found what he was looking for. After sitting back behind his work table, Groza spread the object nearly over the whole desk.

It was a detailed map of Europe and a big part of Russia. Dayaxa didn't quite understand the symbols that dotted the map. Groza quickly explained only the basics. Faction markers and their flimsy borders and irradiated zones and the severity of the contamination. Thankfully, Dayxa was able to locate their target on the map.

A cold feeling rose from his gut. The place Dayxa pointed at was halfway between Moscow and Ural. The faction there wasn't a problem, URNA was at better than friendly terms with the Russians, so they'll certainly let him pass. The problem was the radiation. The westerners dropped only one bomb on Moscow.

A cobalt bomb.

_,,What is a cobalt bomb?''_

Groza didn't know much about such weapons. Only what Emil told him a few times in passing, and what a Russian scout revealed to him. ,,I've been told that they were much weaker when it came to the explosive power, but could melt your insides al lot fucking faster.''

,,Are you sure you are going to make it? The poison won't affect me, and i could try to shield you, although that is risky. I could tire myself out and Ravi would not have any problems dealing with me in the events that he would catch us before we made it there." Groza nodded, he anticipated this. He was certain they would make it. Dayaxa, however, was not so reassured. _,,You could still back out now.''_

Groza gave him a tired smile and shook his head. A moment of silence passed between them before Dayaxa spoke again. _,,Alright. After we restore me to my former power, I will have to convince Ravi to stop this madness. If he cannot be reasoned with, I will be forced to fight him and hopefully defeat him. Then we will have to fix the past few hundred years."_

He thought he saw and heard it all. _Fixing these past few hundred years?_ Fortunately another gulp of his drink helped to somewhat quell the raging storm in his head. ,,How?''

_,,You see, for me and my brother, this world is like a book. A chapter in that book represents a century and each page a decade. If we do not like something that happened, for example in the twentieth chapter, we simply rip it out and rewrite it. We did it a couple of times before."_

Groza felt like his mind was going to explode soon, like one of the semtex charges he planted earlier that day. Luckily for him, Dayaxa didn't overwhelm him much more. They discussed their next steps. How to get to the ritual grounds, how to avoid Riv and what equipment Groza was going to need.

The next day was full of preparations. With a sour taste in his mouth, Groza realized that he would need more rounds for the mounted machine gun on his truck. High caliber ammo was always so expensive, he won't need any money soon, anyways. At the end of the day, the list of things needed was a bit longer than a belt of high caliber rounds. ,,At least everything I need to buy is available in the closest settlement.''

That night he slept soundly. A good night's sleep without any nightmares was almost uncomfortable. Dayaxa woke him up just as the sky began to brighten. Groza quickly put on his gear. Once he was sure he had everything, Groza hopped into his truck. Dayaxa's crystal was already on the passenger seat, the spare fuel and other essentials loaded, and the Kord on the truck's roof clean and ready to fire. Before he turned the keys and the engine roared to life, he reached with a gloved hand underneath his jacket. When he found the tag he was looking for he closed his hand tightly around it, words echoing in his mind like they were spoken yesterday.

_,,See you on the other side."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story: Riv's name was until this evening Ravi, but in the editing phase, I noticed an error. Since I liked that error more, I decided to use it instead.


	3. Payment

It was another sunny day. Fluffy white clouds lazily drifted through the azure blue sky. Groza watched the trees go by, only driving his truck half mindedly. The rest was spent on chatting with Dayaxa. There were still many more things he didn't know, and Dayaxa revealed to him anything that interested him.

,,Why are there diseases and shit like that on earth?" It was something that plagued his mind whenever it wandered to religion. The preachers always rambled on in their little crumbling churches about how god loved them, and how they shouldn't lose faith now. But if god loved them, why did he let earth become what it was now? Sure, the forests may be thriving, and wildlife may be adapting, but humans still died by the hundreds on a daily basis.

,, _Every sentient being in this world has a soul. When you die, there are two options, your soul will either latch on to a sentient being that is awaiting it's coming to the world, or it will supply the earth. If there would be no death, the earth would flourish for some time, yes, but then it would wither away and die. As more would be born, thus consuming more of earth's energy, and none would be returning.''_

,,So in a sense, we are just batteries powering the earth?"

_,,As harsh as it sounds, yes."_

,,But it's the way things have to be. Isn't it?'' _It's just the way things have to be_. Dipshit liked to use that phrase as an excuse to make them do whatever fucked up shit he had in mind. Groza ground his teeth at the memory of him.

He could feel Dayaxa's surprise through their link. He had already gotten used to all the things their link did. Sensing feelings, sending images or whole memories. Groza knew he shouldn't be so ok with this so quickly, but it felt so natural. So right. It was like he had been alone his whole life and realized it just now.

 _,,It is, it applies to me too. I am sure of it, one day I will die, and the force of my soul will help replenish the earth and someone else will take my place.''_ Before anything else could be said, Dayaxa voiced his own question. _,,Why are you so at peace with all of this? Doesn't it upset you that there is nothing after death? That your soul will just be recycled to make the world spin?"_

Groza thought long and hard about his answer. He didn't like talking about his past, but he would have to bring it up as it made answering the god much easier. Many people before asked him where he came from, what shaped him to be the cold blooded killer they saw in the arena, and he only answered one person. His past was an issue, and Groza always preferred solving his issues by himself. It was not ideal, but talking about it didn't help him much.

,,My life sucked dick pretty much immediately after I was born. Even by today's standards. I've seen and done some terrible shit, and I accepted early on that I was doomed. I don't care what will happen to me after I die. I just hope i'll get a bullet to the head.'' But even that was too much to ask in his eyes, maybe if he completed this mission, Dayaxa would forgive him for his sins and grant him a quick death.. ,,Could you do that for me man?''

_,,What?''_

,,You could consider it as a way to pay me for this, I don't work for free." Despite the topic, Groza was grinning ear to ear.

_,,I… I think I could do that."_

Groza only nodded this time, focusing this time fully on the road ahead with a smile. The forest was slowly growing less dense, they weren't far from Czech Linden now. No matter how many times he went there, the settlement always impressed him, as if he was seeing it for the first time. It wasn't always that way, it was one of the border cities, and after the war it was a smouldering pile of rubble. But It ended up a lot better than Liberec in the end. The Czech Linden fortress was now the region's main trading hub and defense post. Rings of barricades surrounded the city, prepared for any kind of attack.

It was also where Groza's client was waiting with his payment, based on the feeling he got from him, he probably heard of his success by now. The way he spoke, the way he held himself, it just screamed secret police. He was probably a former russian officer or something like that.

Just as he predicted, the fortress soon came into view. A long line of vehicles waited before the first checkpoint, trucks of all sizes, and even an APC here or there. They had all kinds of different insignias for all to see, he recognized most of them. Some belonged to factions, some to well known merchants or mercenary groups. His truck also had one painted on the front doors, it was old and worn. Groza hadn't any motivation to renew the paint once his group dissolved. The symbol, however, was still remembered by enemies and friends alike. A simple canine skull.

Since he didn't have anything to sell, he went to a different checkpoint. This one had a much shorter line. The guards there already knew who he was, and so he didn't have to go through the long checks like some of the other less respected mercenaries. The massive machine gun on his roof was not a problem, it was more surprising to the guards if a car without any weapons or armor modifications showed up.

Dayxa's attention was fully captured by the city and it's defenses. He would ask Groza sometimes what certain weapons were for. He was most interested in the anti-air defenses, how they worked and how to counter them. That made sense, considering what he was. Another question popped into his head at that moment.

,,What do you look like? When you're not a glowing rock?"

Instead of answering him like any normal person would, Dayaxa sent him a mental image. Groza nearly ran over a guard standing by one of the gates, he waved at him apologetically and continued on deeper into the fortress. ,,Fuckin' hell, warn me next time please.'' He only half mindedly registered the god's apology, instead, he focused on the image.

He saw a creature over three meters tall, with snow white scales everywhere except for his chest, belly and the underside of his tail. The dragon was standing on two legs, and was, very obviously, a male. A large pair of white wings were tucked against his back, a pair of curved, white horns sprouted from the back of his head. He had bright yellow eyes and a thick brown mane around his neck. The black claws he had for nails looked sharper than his bayonets.

It wasn't exactly what Groza was expecting. He anticipated something more feral. The few pictures he ever saw in the books he sometimes found in destroyed libraries showed them as four legged living tanks. The descriptions often varied, but only in size, head count or behavior. Dayaxa simply looked like the offspring of a dragon and a human. Or a fusion, whatever.

Soon they were on the outskirts of the residential area. Groza decided to leave his truck parked there, not wanting to deal with crawling through the busy streets at a snail's place. Many of the buildings were fully repaired with whatever the remaining citizens found lying on the streets and in the surrounding area. And it made him extremely anxious.

In every window, on every roof and from any basement a sniper hired to take him out could be waiting. Groza made many friends, and many enemies, there even was a bounty placed on his head in former Austria. That's why he only went through the many side streets and hidden passages. Sometimes he bumped into some people who took a liking to his gear, but a quick flash of the metal badge from his breast pocket always sent them scurrying back into whatever dirty rathole they crawled from.

Dayaxa was still with him, calling out possible threats or simply asking him about the city. Groza didn't have his usual large backpack, so the god had to make do with the inner pocket of his jacket. His shotgun and battle rifle were left in the car, the local peacekeepers allowed crime to govern itself to a certain limit, but that didn't mean they liked seeing people on the streets showing everyone what a nice assault rifle they managed to steal, loot or in rare cases buy.

Looting corpses was a very popular thing to do in the new world, especially if the corpse had better gear than the person who found it. Groza didn't loot his enemies much, only for ammunition when he was absolutely sure it was safe. He personally knew sharpshooters either from factions or mercenary groups who were very fond of using their fallen comrades as bait for enemy looters. Judging from the marks that always decorated their snipers, and experience, it worked more often than not.

His train of thought was interrupted by a steadily louder growing buzz of a crowd ahead. They were nearly at the meeting point. Groza's client contacted him a week or two before. He introduced himself as Khlebnikov, and agreed to meet in one of the pubs at the market square. Market square was a busy place twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. All trade in the region took place there, and that was one of the reasons why Groza agreed to meet him there. In such a busy place where _every_ person had a sidearm and that was filled to the brim with peacekeepers and fellow mercs it was unlikely that his client would try to dispose of him to avoid payment.

And if he did, well, the peacekeepers would surely make him regret his decisions. The marketplace and its surrounding area was marked as a neutral zone. That meant no business related killing, it was one of the few enforced rules in the new world that most agreed to follow. Those who didn't were often made into public examples of why those rules were better to follow. Groza saw, caused and endured a fair bit of pain in his life, but he always had to grimace when he saw the… _examples_. But at least there wasn't total chaos.

With a final sigh, he steeled himself for whatever could happen inside, even though it was unlikely, anything could go wrong in a heartbeat. Groza noticed Khlebnikov immediately after he stepped into the dimly lit room. It was full with people, negotiating trade deals or simply having a good time. He was pleased to see a spot reserved for him, Khlebnikov was already gesturing to their table. He had his two bodyguards with him, two tall russians with dangerous revolvers on their hips. From what Groza heard, they were designed to bust open locks, and used the same type of ammunition as the ASh-12.7.

Those things would surely have little problems with his body armor. He didn't let his wariness show, clients always liked it more when their potential personal killer was more relaxed.

Khlebnikov stood up and offered him a hand. ,,Groza! It was a pleasure to hear of your success!" He reached with his own in response, and immediately when their hands met something changed in Khlebnikov's eyes. He still had his warm smile as they shook hands, but the atmosphere changed around them drastically.

The guards didn't stop staring at him, even when he and his client sat down, they had their eyes glued on him. Khlebnikov's smile shifted into a more neutral expression, but the look in his eyes changed again. Groza didn't get nervous in combat a lot after his experiences, but looking into his eyes was like staring down the barrel of a gun, while knowing the wielder was going to pull the trigger.

,,I will get to business. Place him on the table, please.'' His voice was low and commanding. Groza's heart skipped a beat, out of the thousands possible scenarios, this was the one he was not prepared for. Hell, it didn't even cross his mind that anything like this could ever happen. _What should I fucking do?_

 _,,Do as he says."_ Dayaxa's voice was calm, but with an undertone of hate and sadness.

Groza slowly reached into the pocket Dayaxa was hidden in and slowly placed his crystal on the table, closer to him. Khlebknikov, or Riv, and his guards followed his every move. None of the patrons noticed any of this, or if they did, they didn't show it. Riv's face suddenly lit up when the blue, glowing gem was carefully placed in front of him, but the murderous look in his eyes remained.

,,Brother! It's so good to see you again!''

Groza winced when suddenly he felt a surge of rage through his link with Dayaxa. _,,I am afraid I cannot say the same."_ His voice was calm and neutral, a stark contrast to what he was feeling.

,,But why is that?" It sounded like Riv was genuinely happy to see his brother after he imprisoned him for a century. ,,It's been so long, and you are still bitter about our little dispute?"

The dragon god's rage somehow got even worse. ,,You slaughtered every last dragon like a sheep! Smashed every egg and hunted down every dragon rider until none remained! ONLY TO RID YOURSELF OF YOUR PARANOIA AND SATISFY YOUR TWISTED FANTASIES!"

Groza didn't want to be in the same room as Dayaxa anymore, hell, even the same continent. Before, when Dayaxa felt something, he could barely feel it, but now his emotions hit him full force through their link.

_Anger. Pain. Sorrow._

In a split second, Groza experienced it all. His eyes widened, his breaths turned into sharp gasps, and he dug his glowed wingers into the wooden table. Dayaxa's feelings pushed almost every negative memory to the forefront of his mind, making him feel for a few moments like a scared child again. The brother's argued between themselves, but he didn't hear them. Groza focused full force on trying to calm down, using the advice Alex gave him all those years ago. It helped, like it always did. He could feel a dull pressure in his head, but he heard Dayaxa speak again. Riv's guards still stared at him, they haven't moved a muscle since they arrived in this place and at this point Groza doubted they were even alive.

_,,I will fix what you've broken!"_

Riv's smile faded a little at that. ,,Broken? Maybe, but I don't need your help fixing it, I will make this chunk of rock into the paradise I always envisioned it being!" He sighed, emptied his glass and his smile returned again.

,,I know it's weird of me to say this, but I missed you, brother. And your dragons, in a way. Building a paradise is not an easy task, but it's really dull without your dragon's showing up and disrupting my plans somehow." Dayaxa stayed silent, and Groza could feel his anger rise again.

,,Anyways, Groza.'' At the mention of his name, he stopped the staring contest he had with Riv's guards and tried to guess what the fellow monster had to say to him. ,,You did your job quite well, and you will get your payment, however, I have another proposal."

,,I am willing to turn a blind eye to your wretched heritage and let you join us," At that he gestured to himself and his guards. ,,in our quest to make this world into a place worth living. You have proven yourself strong enough."

He could feel Dayaxa's uncertainty at that moment, clear as day, but Groza didn't consider his proposal for even a second. But just to be safe, he asked him a question of his own. ,,Why did you let the fucking war happen? Why let us suffer like this?"

,,I found an opportunity where I could smash three dragons with one stone. I needed to make some changes to the world, and also to ensure that only the most worthy would get to live in the paradise I am preparing."

His answer only inspired Groza more to work against him, but his last words firmly sealed his beliefs. ,,I was also incredibly bored, and trust me, watching all of that fighting was very entertaining."

Without another thought Groza gave him his answer. ,,Go fuck yourself, then."

Riv was full of surprises. After his answer, Riv's smile turned into a wolfish grin. ,,I was hoping you would say that." And with that he stood up, gestured something to one of his guards, who then placed a metal box in front of Groza, said his farewells and with his guards left the pub.

Both Groza and Dayaxa stayed silent for a good while after he left, his words were surely a threat, and Groza was sure that their journey to Siberia was not going to be easy. For a moment, he let himself forget about the oncoming journey and the complications they were no doubt going to face. Very carefully, he opened the metal box and sighed in relief when he found out it was not boobytrapped.

_,,I am sorry you had to experience that."_

He didn't say anything back to him, just nodded, closed the box, put Dayaxa in his pocket and with his box in hand left the tavern. A thousand thoughts swirled through his dead, and he went through his usual path on autopilot. Riv's words about his heritage confused him, what did his parents do? Not like he would ever know, and so he decided to think about it later.

The rest of their stay in the fortress was spent by buying everything Groza needed for their journey north. He looked all over his surroundings at random, and noticed several unnerving things, or rather people. People with the same uniforms that Riv's guards wore, men, women, older, younger, whenever he looked they were there, pretending to be conversing with someone or checking out the merchandise whenever he looked.

It made Groza quicken his pace to the truck, once he was out of the market's borders, it could descend into a free for all. Who knew how many followers Riv had? Fortunately they seemed only to watch him from a distance, and when he was leaving the first gate, now in the safety of his armoured truck, he saw one of the followers standing by, an ASh rifle in his hands, waving at him.


	4. Roadway Shootout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people. If you wonder what kinds of songs I'm sort off referncing in this chapter, then you can put on 26 by Corn Wave and you'll have a pretty good idea.

Czech Linden was long behind them. Songs he didn't quite understand played on the radio, but the combination of guitar and barely hearable russian had a sort of calming effect on him. The road was clear of any debris or large holes. Merchants, mercenaries, soldiers and patrols all traveled alongside him in either direction. It was quite a busy road, but there was safety in numbers.

Bandits lurked on the less used paths in the hills or forests, stealing, raping and murdering. Every once in a while a patrol would be found beside the road, interrogating the often injured and traumatized survivors. The peacekeepers would usually just stop a truck that was passing by, paid the crew to take the survivors to the closest settlement and forget about it. As long as the bandits didn't plunder the main trade routes, they left them alone.

Groza sighed sadly, but continued on, not wanting to cause a jam. They couldn't afford any stops, unless completely necessary. They drove on well into the night, thousands of bright stars shone in the dark black sky, the engine rumbled and the radio continued singing melancholic Russian songs.

Contrary to their ride to Czech Linden, they didn't talk much this time. Dayaxa was quiet, and he could sense some sort of unease from him, but didn't push him for any answers. Groza had problems of his own plaguing his mind.

_,,I am willing to turn a blind eye to your wretched heritage."_

He didn't get to know his parents very well. The only thing related to them was the way they died. For some strange reason, the memory of his father, writhing on the ground after his lower jaw got shot off by a shotgun, making desperate gurgling sounds as he choked on the swelling remains of his tongue was etched into his mind, refusing to go away. His mother was taken alive, but he didn't ever see her again. Now that he thought about it, she was probably made into a soup after the bandits had their fun.

He shook his head slightly, clearing his head off of the unimportant things and focussing on Riv's words. What could his parents do that would disgust the god so much? Not that he had any fucking right after what he had done to humanity as a whole. An annoyed sigh escaped past his lips as he realized he would probably never know what Riv meant.

, _,I'm sorry."_

Groza flinched, so lost in thought that he forgot that there was a second person in the car with him. ,,You apologized already. It wasn't _that_ bad, anyways."

_,,I'm not talking about my rage and despair, the link works both ways."_

Now he got what Dayaxa meant. ,,So you've seen…"

_,,Everything."_

Silence reigned again in the truck for a moment, before Dayaxa spoke again. _,,I'm sorry."_ It felt strange to hear those words in that context again. Groza couldn't decide if he liked it or not, or what to say as a response.

_,,I promise you I'll get us bot-"_

Groza knew what he was going to promise him, and before he could finish the sentence, he cut him off with a forceful ,,Don't!". Making a promise like this was always a bad idea, _he knew_ , and the dragon god probably knew that too. But there was an alternative. ,,Promise me _you_ will live through this. Promise me that you will undo what your brother did."

_,,I promise."_

He sensed that Dayaxa wanted to expand the matter further, but Groza didn't let him. He didn't want to get all emotional during a drive in what was essentially a military convoy, and while a dangerous enemy was breathing down their neck. ,,There is a camp some twenty kilometers down the road, we'll stop there for the rest of the night." Dayaxa agreed, and they fell into silence again.

The radio was still singing russian to sometimes fast, sometimes slow, guitar beats. Groza appreciated the calming songs now more than ever. Stars shone brightly over the road, and he could still see thousands of them even over the lights of the other vehicles.

Soon they were exiting the road and entering the camp, fortunately there was still a spot free when they arrived. Sleeping outside the camp's walls, even though he had Dayaxa, would be incredibly risky, and he didn't have enough ammunition to ward off every single bandit or animal. The price was quite hefty, but Groza didn't mind. He brought a good chunk of his savings with him, because he didn't want to worry that he couldn't afford some incredibly important piece of gear, should he need it. And he was fully expecting to get killed, either by Riv or one of his followers, or the still strong radiation.

Groza couldn't remember when he last slept so well in his life, normally he was plagued by nightmares whenever he closed his eyes. Whenever he slept, he saw either the bodies of his friends from the mercenary group they formed together, some of his victims or his parents. Dreamless sleep was a very welcome change. Dayaxa was in an odd mood that morning, and when Groza asked him about it, he told him that he was the cause of his dreamless sleep. The god achieved that by taking the nightmares on himself instead.

_,,It's the least I could do after yesterday."_

That day they were both in a more talkative mood, and so Groza let his godly companion teach him about all the dragon species that lived back when everything was sort of normal. Dayaxa sent him an image every time the description of the current dragon was too unbelievable for the human. Groza noticed that again, he got the feeling that he knew everything Dayaxa told him, but how could that be possible? He hadn't ever even heard of these creatures in his life, not even in the old libraries and archives.

This feeling was strongest when dayaxa mentioned a particular species. The Skrill. Like that day in the civil defense shelter, he could feel something in his mind, other than Dayaxa, just out of his reach. Groza didn't mention this to his companion, since he didn't deem it important enough. He shrugged it off and continued listening to another detailed explanation.

Kilometers flowed swiftly by, and the further north they went, the less travelers they encountered. It was sometime during the afternoon of that day, while they were passing through a jungle between Warsaw and the former polish-belarussian borders, that he randomly looked in his rear view mirror. Groza could feel his face turn whiter at what he saw. A group of five armoured cars, quickly gaining on them. Unlike most other vehicles in the new world, these looked brand new, with with some military grade machine guns on their roofs. They were getting slowly but steadily closer.

Groza knew who they probably were, and sped up. The steady rumble of the engine grew louder, and once their pursuers noticed this, they sped up as well. It was then that he realized that they probably had faster cars. ,,For fuck's sake! Dayaxa, can you control the car by yourself?"

 _,,Press me against the wheel."_ He did exactly that, and watched awe for a moment as the crystal melted into the steering wheel.

,,You better not leave a fucking mark there!"

 _,,I'll try!"_ Despite their situation, Groza chuckled as he climbed behind the Kord on the roof. He heard that charging the thing was like starting a lawnmower. Whether that was true or not, Groza didn't know. Lawnmowers never interested him.

They were still gaining on them, and the lead vehicle started firing once it was in range. All the shots hit the ground around the tires or the back of the car. Why the machine gunner was unloading at his tires and not at him was a mystery. Groza started firing as well, he was aiming for the gunner first, and soon the gunfire on their side stopped. _Seems like buying those AP rounds for the price of a small fucking house was worth it._

The lead vehicle, with the use of some evasive manuevers, switched positions with the car behind it. Groza tried to make every shot count, with varying degrees of success. Their pursuers changed their whole formation so now at least two machine guns were unloading at his truck at any time. And as the old saying goes, if you throw enough shit at the wall, some of it is gonna stick. Suddenly one of the back tires burst and he could feel Dayaxa struggling to crash the car in a way that would cause minimal damage to both the truck and him. He guided the truck expertly into the ditch without killing him in the process. All around them were trees that both sides could use as cover.

Riv's followers stopped some fifty meters from him and started pouring out of their vehicles. The machine gunners continued to fire at him, this time aiming at him. They fortunately had smaller caliber mg's, and the bullets bounced off of the shield attached to the Kord's barrel. The one advantage they had apparently, was a bigger magazine and bigger numbers. So when he noticed the belt getting short enough, he started targeting the follower's that were now trying to get closer to him. Groza managed to down three, before he slipped inside his truck again, made sure Dayaxa was okay and with his battle rifle in hand jumped out.

Riv's followers started throwing flashbangs at him, and Groza was hard pressed to counter them and keep the followers at bay with his own grenades and firepower. He fired single shots, only going full auto when he was absolutely sure his target was going to drop dead after it. Often he had to change positions, using the ditch, his truck and trees as cover, but as the firefight continued on, he started to get the impression that Riv's followers fully succeeded at getting him in the pincers.

But he refused to back down, shooting with deadly precision, killing, injuring, reloading and still keeping them at bay. Dayaxa warned him nearly too late against one of the followers who successfully flanked and leapt at him. Groza jabbed him in the neck with the muzzle of his rifle, staggering and pushing him back. Once he was at a more comfortable distance, he held the trigger, the last five shots finishing him off. Why didn't that idiot just shoot him in the back? He didn't have the time to think about the intelligence of his enemies or reload, so he discarded the rifle and pulled out his pistol, it wasn't as effective as his Bren, but it still did it's job nicely.

Once Groza was sure he had a little breather, the sidearm slid into its holster again and his Saiga shotgun took its place. Riv's remaining followers finally pushed at him full force from two sides. There was a rumor that the Saiga could shoot as fast as the wielder could pull the trigger. It certainly looked like that, as the Saiga absolutely shredded those who he targeted and caught in the open.

But still they were making progress. But then suddenly, a sound, steadily growing louder, caused the gunfight to pause for a moment, as both sides listened carefully. An APC suddenly came into view. Groza started shooting again, while the followers were distracted. The APC had Peacekeeper emblems all over it, and he hoped that the guy behind the autocannon was not going to target him first. Fortunately he didn't, and the Peacekeeper patrol scattered the rest of Riv's followers.

Once the fire died down, Groza leaned against the side of his truck and sighed in relief and pain. It was just now that the pain started to show itself, several bullets grazed him or hit his body armor, and even though the plating stopped it, it still hurt like a bitch. After a small interrogation and some money reinforced convincing, the peacekeepers agreed to help him out. Their APC had no problems with pulling his truck out of the ditch and towing it back to the nearest outpost. They even let him stay in the medics tent for the night.

 _,,That was some impressive fighting."_ Groza only grunted in pain as a response. The bullets that got absorbed by his body armor still bruised his ribs. Dayaxa noticed this, it was a risk, but he was willing to take this one. _,,Take off the bandages."_

,,Wha-"

 _,,Just do it!"_ And so he did, once his chest was bare, Dayaxa instructed to press his shell against his chest. Groza, even though reluctantly, did as he was told.

,,Hope I don't end up like my steering wheel." Dayaxa chuckled, but otherwise didn't say anything. The warmth of the crystal felt good against his bare chest, and it got better as Dayaxa started whispering some strange words. It didn't sound like any language he ever heard, and the more he focused on it the less it sounded like it was something a human could even speak, as it was composed of what sounded like low growls, croons and purrs. But it pushed the pain away, and Groza could see even the marks from bullets that grazed him close.

He thanked him with a relieved sigh, it was not the first time he got his ribs injured, a few times he even broke them. Groza preferred bullet and shrapnel wounds over broken bones, it always took a lifetime for bones to heal. _,,You are welcome."_ Dayaxa sounded out of breath, and he wasn't really surprised, driving his truck and healing him must have taken a toll on his limited powers.

The next day, they were on the road again. Groza was worried, he was able to change the tire, but now he didn't have a reserve, if Riv's followers were going to destroy a second one, they would have to continue on foot a lot sooner than planned. At least he was able to buy some ammunition from the peacekeepers.

The further north they went, the less people they met, and most of them were bandits. Bandits were unavoidable, even more so when they left the area the peacekeepers covered. Sometimes they tried to stop and kill him, but they were no match for him. Bandits relied on surprise and intimidation, but their gear, especially in this area, was often the definition of a sorry state. One didn't have any ammunition at all. Groza didn't even have to waste any ammunition in that encounter, his sharp bayonets doing a far more satisfying job. No matter where he found himself in the world, he always eradicated the bandits that crossed his path.

The air was also already getting colder, the forests changed from oak jungles to spruce and pine jungles. The trees were incredibly tall, and their branches so dense that it was impossible to see the sky from under them. It permanently looked like it was dusk in the forest. Mutated lynx, wolves, deer and the occasional bear could be seen wandering the forest.

As they got closer to Moscow, the geiger counter on the truck's dashboard made itself known, steadily growing louder the longer they drove on. Once they were some eighty kilometers away from the former capital, Groza had to shoot the first dose of anti-rads, or as the people called it, green stuff, up his veins. There was no way he was going through Moscow or anywhere nearer, luckily they didn't have to, and the roads were still sort of clear, probably courtesy of Russian scavengers.

Soon, however, the road basically ended, and it was impossible to tell where the road even used to be, so they had to leave the truck behind. Groza took only the most necessary things, and after boobytrapping the truck he set off, Dayaxa safely in his pouch. It was cold, and only getting colder with each passing kilometer, the forest, now covered in snow, was silent, the only sounds were his footsteps and the geiger's counter ticking away. It was getting on Groza's nerves, but luckily Dayaxa was there to distract him from the suffocating silence, and to warn him of any danger before it could get too close.

Groza had his rifle in his hands at all times, ready to quickly dispatch anything harboring ill towards him, but other than the occasional wild animal, they haven't seen a single living soul. They stayed in old, forgotten ruins of villages when it was possible, otherwise they utilized the branches of trees. Strangely, they hadn't encountered any of Riv's followers, Groza wasn't so naive as to think that they lost them after that one fight, or that Riv had given up.

But at the moment, there were more pressing concerns, such as the radiation. Thanks to preemptive bombardment, the land was still heavily irradiated even hundreds of kilometers from any strategically important targets. Groza thankfully bought enough of the green stuff, and one dose lasted him for days, and the radiation was lower than he expected it to be.

,,Did you ever have a girlfriend, or something like that?" As nervous as he was, simply walking through the frozen Russian forest was a little boring, so Groza passed the time by asking Dayaxa all sorts of sometimes strange questions.

_,,You mean mate?"_

,,I guess." He already knew where he wanted to take this conversation, and tried his hardest to contain his amusement.

_,,I did, several, in fact. But never any long lasting one's. I liked to return to some, but was always careful not to get too attached. My lifespan is a bit… longer than the average dragon."_

,,Females only, or did you ever try some of that _male on male action_?" Groza had to grin like an idiot sometimes at the god's reactions. Much to his amusement, Dayaxa seemed often so surprised by his questions that he didn't answer him for several moments. But it seemed like Dayaxa figured how to get back at him, so instead of answering him, he sent him a whole memory.

Groza froze, mouth agape, as his mind replied the dragon's, very vivid and graphic, memory. ,,What the fuck? Why couldn't you just fucking tell me you did? I didn't need to see it like it happened to me!" Dayaxa's laugh drowned out his colorful curses as he gathered his composure and continued on.


	5. Last  Stand

The days were cold and the nights were freezing. They were lucky that he didn't find Dayaxa during winter, because he would freeze to death by now. The radiation was not as big of a problem as Groza initially feared, he bought enough anti-rads and packed enough filters. Only traversing through the forest was a bit of an issue, the deeper they went, the taller was the snow, and at this point in their journey the snow was reaching Groza's knees.

Luckily, Riv or his followers didn't catch up to them, or at least not yet. They knew they didn't lose them, but they both had to wonder, _what the fuck is taking them so long?_ Groza, despite Dayaxa's comforting presence, was growing more and more nervous with each passing day. The suspense was killing him, and he wished that Riv would send his followers at him again, an open firefight was far better than this.

Snow, trees, and the occasional rock were the only things that could be seen for hundreds of meters in every direction, and deathly silence ruled over the entire forest, broken only by the crunching of snow, the Geiger counter and the voice in his head. Dayaxa informed him they were getting close and he had to sigh in relief at those news. With that, however, thoughts about the future were being pressed more and more to the forefront of his mind. What was going to happen to him after Dayaxa did his thing? As the dragon god told him, he would probably be reincarnated, after his energy juice was sucked dry by the planet he was currently occupying, but would lose his memories.

The next day, Groza stood before a tall cliff, dwarfing even some of the tallest trees. There was an ornate entrance carved into the foot of the cliff, large enough to fit a fighter jet inside with still a lot of space to share. _,,We made it."_ The tunnel was dark, somehow even darker than the defense shelters, probably because of the lack of fluorescent mushrooms. There were no spiders or rats inside, and despite it being quieter and darker, it was a lot more pleasant place to be in and a lot warmer than the outside.

Groza's NVGs and Dayaxa's guidance allowed them to safely reach the most important part of these ritual grounds. It was a large, dome like chamber, unlike the tunnels before it, it was lit by a large hole in the ceiling. How the snow didn't fall inside, he didn't know and decided not to question it. The walls were covered with intricate carvings of various dragons, some he recognized from Dayaxas descriptions, some were new to him. But one carving completely mesmerized him, he remembered what dragon it was the second he saw it. It was the Skrill, wings spread to their fullest, claws sharp and fangs bared. The carving was incredibly detailed, even the smallest scales carefully and accurately represented. Why he knew how accurate the dragon was, Groza didn't know, but something in his mind told him it was.

 _"As much as I agree with you on the beauty of this chamber, we have a more pressing matter before us."_ Dayaxa's voice brought from the trance he fell into, and quickly placed his crystal on the pedestal in the middle of the chamber, light shone on it from somewhere above.

Once the god was safely placed on the flat stone, the runes that covered the whole thing began to softly glow. ,,So, what happens now?

_"Now I have to wait for midnight, when the moon will be at its peak strength, then I will be able to break from this shell. Until then, you will have to fight off Riv and his followers, if they reach this place. I have to warn you, I won't be able to communicate with you once you get past the gate."_

Groza looked at his wrist, where among metal and motion detectors, and various other things, was a watch. _17:47._ In the worst case scenario, he would have to keep them at bay for some five or six hours. Groza didn't have enough ammo for a fight like that. "Those fuckers won't know what hit them." And with that, he turned around and started walking down the tunnel they first entered through. The only thing that was on his mind was the possible fight that awaited him. Or maybe they really lost them, and this was not his last night.

_"Try to not get yourself killed."_

"Whatever happens, happens."

The silence was still getting at his nerves, now more than ever before. Over the nearly two weeks that they traveled together Groza really got used to Dayaxa's presence. And even though there was nothing but snow, trees and rocks for hundreds of kilometers in every direction, he felt claustrophobic.

With an angry grunt he pushed his fears and worries away, and focused on the battleplan. If Riv's followers really were somewhere there, lurking between the trees, Groza planned to face them head on and at the very least slow them down. He knew that no matter how well he could handle his rifle, no matter how well he knew how to fight and no matter what plans he made in his head, something could go horribly wrong. Or everything was going to be fine, and he wouldn't even have to fire off a single round.

It seemed like with every minute, the light faded more and more. Groza looked at his watch again. _20:26._ Thanks to the trees he couldn't see anything without the NVGs on. He was maybe two kilometers from the ritual grounds when he decided to stop and wait. It was cold, so cold, but it was just for this night. He decided to make his defense there.

 _21:29._ It was then that he noticed movement, people that looked like they just came from the Russian special force's armory. They were maybe hundred meters away from him, when Groza opened fire. The thunder of his battle rifle pierced the still night air and the first follower dropped in the snow, a brand new hole in their head. The others quickly dropped into cover, but thanks to his flash hider they didn't immediately pin-point his position. He fired a couple more shots, killing two more and critically injuring one.

More and more shot's started reverberating through the air, the cracks of their rifles were joined by the barks of machine guns trying to provide cover fire. Groza had to soon change position, there were a lot of them and Riv's followers were already moving to encircle him. He couldn't let that happen, so he retreated a few meters back behind a rock formation, and started firing again. From behind the rocks he had a much better view at the enemies on his right, while a bit of his front and a good portion of his left was obscured by the trees.

Groza lost the track of time, fully focusing on trying to kill as many of the followers as he could. With the last bullet in his magazine and the help of his magnifier he dispatched a machine gunner. The magnifier was an amazing attachment, allowing him to occasionally do some counter sharpshooting, but his vision was a lot more limited when he had it on, and so he flipped it on and off.

The fact he was enjoying this didn't disturb him anymore. Finally fighting an enemy that was hunting him for some two weeks was rehabilitating like nothing else in the world, except for one thing, but there was no way he was getting any of that here. The Followers numbers were overwhelming, bullets whizzed past him, but he still had to chuckle under his mask like a teenager at the thought that just popped into his head.

Shooting was a very enjoyable way to relieve stress, even when there wasn't anything alive in his sights.

Groza didn't fear their numbers, he was outnumbered so many times in the past that he just accepted it as standard procedure. What started making him a bit nervous was the speed at which his enemies were advancing. Grenades were not as useful in the forest as they normally would be, there weren't any trenches, machine gun nests or buildings anywhere near. He didn't have that many, anyways.

It seemed that for every one he downed, two more popped up, guns blazing, trying to push him further back. Groza tried to maintain as much distance as possible between him and thhem, but that wasn't always possible. He loved his Bren rifle, but the seven-six-two rounds had the tendency to kick like a mule whenever he went full auto. Holding the trigger for more than five round bursts was a waste of ammunition, unless the enemy was just few meters away from him.

_Speaking of ammo…_

He pulled the trigger again, and heard only a click signaling either a jam or an empty magazine, fortunately it was the latter. Groza pressed the mag release, caught the magazine falling from the rifle and reached into one of his pouches to change it for a fresh one. The only problem was that the magazine he just emptied was his last one. With a curse he put it back in the rifle and slung said rifle on his back. After throwing the last of his grenades to keep them from advancing for at least a minute, he took out his Saiga and ensured he had fresh magazines at the ready.

He maybe ran out of bullets for his rifle, but he still had slugs. Groza made every shot count, even advancing a little instead of retreating. He wasn't scared, even reloading was done subconsciously, his attention was solely on target and cover choice. With some satisfaction, he noticed that Riv's followers were caught a bit off guard when he stopped retreating and tore into them with his shotgun.

Suddenly the pace of the fight changed again. Groza just popped one followers head open like a ripe melon, blood, brain matter and chunks of skull sprayed the comrade that stood behind him, when he just barely avoided having his teeth knocked out by rifle stock. A follower leapt from behind the tree he wanted to use as cover, he didn't have the time to think about the logic of the followers actions. Acting purely on instinct, he quickly retaliated, punching his enemy two times in quick succession with the Saiga's stock. His enemy tried to block the blows, but still got staggered by their force. That gave Groza enough time to shoulder the shotgun again and open the follower's chest.

He was forced to hastily retreat after that, to avoid overextension and the encirclement that would follow.

* * *

He watched the heretic dispatch his comrades with morbid interest. He didn't care much for them, many of whom lay on the ground, dead or dying.

Even though they were separated by dozens of meters, he lost him only for a few moments when he switched positions. The longer he watched him through the scope of his Falcon anti-materiel rifle, the more his respect for the heretic grew. But respect didn't grant mercy. He took in a deep breath, and waited. Normally he would aim for the head or heart, but that wasn't an option this time.

Deep breaths, in and out. His target jumped out of cover for only a second, but that was all he needed. A shot rang out, and shortly after the forest grew quiet again. With a satisfied sigh, he pulled the bolt back and cycled another round.

_,,Target down, mission accomplished."_

* * *

Groza got shot before in his life, but never took a wound like this before from it. The bullet passed through his side, taking a chunk of his flesh with it. The pain descended over his mind like a fog, the only plan he could think of was to take in deep breaths and hope for the best. He wanted to scream, but forced himself with whatever remained of his will not to.

The gunfire stopped, Groza could hear footsteps, closer and closer. His Saiga laid in the snow, he didn't have the strength to get it quickly enough. He turned his head slowly, trying to discern where his enemies were. From his left, three approached. Groza tried pulling out his pistol, but one follower raised his rifle with lightning quick reflexes and shot him in the wrist before he could pull the trigger.

Groza screamed this time. They came closer, two let their weapons hang across their chest and the third kept aiming at him. He moaned in pain when they raised him to something resembling a standing position, but didn't have the strength to stand on his own. The followers seemed to be okay with that. None of them said a word, not when seemingly out of nowhere, a familiar figure appeared.

"It's so good to see you again Groza!" Riv suddenly came into view, unbothered by the cold or radiation, a cheerful smile on his face. Groza hoped he could see the rage in his eyes, even through the dirty lenses of his mask.

"I have to admit, you put up an impressive fight there. It's a shame that you are on the wrong side." He stepped closer and took one of Groza's bayonets, examining it. "It's not the first time we are in a situation like this. Do you remember the night we first met?"

Confusion joined the pain and rage. Riv noticed this, and his smile changed into a disappointed frown. "One would think someone wouldn't forget, even through, their family tortured and butchered in front of them. Oh I still remember the hate, pain, guilt and fear in your eyes. Kinda like now."

There was the feeling again, again he couldn't quite reach something in the back of his mind. Groza tried to think as hard as he could, but had no idea what the deranged god was talking about. The pain was distracting him far too much anyway.

"My dear brother is going to escape his prison anytime now, no point in trying to stop him. But while we wait for his arrival," Riv had a bloodthirsty look on his face, watching him like a wolf would its prey. ,,I will enjoy killing you again, slowly, but _please,_ stay dead this time."

Before he could muster the last of his strength to do anything, Riv lunged forwards. First he tore away his body armor, and in the blink of an eye, his own bayonet was suddenly deep in his stomach. Groza screamed again, as Riv stabbed, slashed and twisted the blade to make his wounds all the more painful. Every time it looked like death would finally take him into her sweet embrace, Riv healed him and began the process all over again. His followers still held him, not moving a muscle or uttering a single word.

Groza didn't scream anymore. His warm blood turned the clean snow around him into a red slush, his clothes were reduced to blood soaked shreds. His mind was blank, just as his eyes, as his mind was nearly completely overwhelmed by pain. Suddenly the bayonet entered him one last time. Groza only barely registered that Riv was saying something, but couldn't quite make anything out.

The only thing on his mind was the relief. He didn't care that Riv was saying something. He didn't care that his followers let him go. The cold of the snow was soothing, and he didn't care about the distinct sounds of someone cocking the hammer of a revolver above his head.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity, Dayaxa opened his eyes. He took in a deep breath, tasting the scents that lingered in the air. It was mostly just, moss, wet stone and a fading human scent. He checked over his body, and was pleased to see nothing changed from the day he was imprisoned, except for the scars. His black claws were still sharp, his white scales still shined in the moonlight, the runes that decorated his body glowed brightly whenever moonlight passed over them.

For only a moment, Dayaxa was confused about the human scent that was slowly fading from the cave, and his eyes widened when his mind finally caught up. He sped out of the cave as fast as his sore body allowed, but stopped dead in his tracks when he got past the entrance and his clawed feet sunk in the snow. He should have felt Groza in his mind. Where there was a very active presence for over two weeks in his mind, there was only silence.

Dayaxa knew what this meant. He could see the power of his brother glow brightly in the forest not so far in front of him. He didn't know Groza for very long, but the human grew on him. Maybe it was because of what he was. Dayaxa had mates before, and he met some people that he fondly remembered during his checkups on the world. But he never had a friend. And for a good reason, he wasn't immortal, but it would still be a long time before he'll pass.

But over the days that he spent in the mercenaries pocket, he made a crucial mistake. Dayaxa made a friend that he didn't want to lose, at least not yet. He would have to do an exception this one time, but if Groza accepted his offer, then it would be an easily justifiable exception.

First he would have to defeat his brother. Flying would be pointless in the forest, so he ran instead. Dayaxa was furious. As he ran, a low deep growl vibrated through his chest. Soon he found himself before his brother, and Groza's body. He knew from the start that his brother wouldn't have mercy, but it was still a sad sight.

"Brother! You finally made it."

Riv's voice snapped him from his thoughts. His brother stood over Groza's corpse, holding one of his bayonets and a gun. His front was covered in a shade of red that only blood could produce, and Dayaxa's growl grew in volume.

"Your pet over here," Riv gave the bloodied body a pat on the head, "was really fun! Not as much as one of your worms, but good enough."

Dayaxa didn't say anything back, words were useless here. Nothing he could ever say would change Riv for the better, no words could ever make up for the atrocities he commited. So he leapt forwards, Riv's eyes widened in surprise and he jumped back, saving himself from being slashed apart by claws sharper than any blade could ever hope to be. His followers that stood next to him weren't so lucky.

Warm blood coated his midnight black claws and snow white scales. Dayaxa continued on, using his momentum to continue his deadly assault. His claws were only a black blur, Dayaxa surprised even himself with the speed at which he attacked. Moonlight sneaked itself through the branches and made the runes on his body glow and his rage made them glow even brighter.

Riv was fighting a losing battle, he used too much of his power for torturing Groza, and now he would pay for it. Bullets were useless, and strikes with the bayonet were easily dodged or blocked. Still, their deadly dance continued on. Finally Dayaxa got the opening he looked for. In the blink of an eye, he had a crystal in his claws and stabbed forward.

His brother's eyes widened in recognition, surprise, pain and then fear. Riv gripped his scaled wrist, but Dayaxa only put more pressure on it. Riv stared defiantly into his bright yellow eyes and screamed all sorts of insults, curses and empty promises. Dayaxa didn't hear him, instead he started chanting, the same spell his beloved brother put on him centuries ago. Soon only a warm crystal remained in his scaly palm, pulsating with yellow light. As fast as he could, he killed off all of Riv's followers that still remained in the forest.

When he was sure that none of them remained, Dayaxa rushed to Groza's body. Hopefully he defeated Riv in time.


	6. The Hunt Begins

He stood over Groza's already cold body, as cold as the air and snow around him. There were only a few patches of skin on him that weren't covered in blood. His clothes were reduced to bloody shreds, the white rubber of his mask had a brand new and unnecessary hole in it's forehead. Small silver plates hung from several small chains on his neck. Dog tags. Groza told him about them, and his memories revealed their significance. Dayaxa cringed a little when he was again reminded of the incident with their link.

The crystal Ravi was in was sent to a safe place in his domain, his followers were dead. Dayaxa was alone. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. What he was about to do required immense concentration. When he opened them again, the forest around him looked completely different. The thick smell of blood was no longer present, he didn't feel the freezing night air on his scales and the subtle whispers of branches shifting in the breeze couldn't be heard anymore. Everything around him had a grey tint.

Dayaxa noticed light directly in front of him. A creature stood over his fallen friend's body, see through and glowing blue. It noticed his presence turned to him. "So this is how dying feels like."

Groza's voice was deeper and smoother now, but it wasn't the only thing that had changed. Dayaxa was surprised to see the former human so calm. "That was quite a show you put on there, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of those things." He gestured to his claws with one of his wings.

"I'm yet again surprised how well you are taking all of this." Groza seemed like this was an everyday routine to him. "Considering how you died."

Groza's expression fell a little at that. "It hurt like a bitch, but we won didn't we? That's all that really matters in the end. Besides, I can't feel anything anymore. No pain, no cold, it's disorienting but nice at the same time." He winced a little after that. "No, wait, I have a _killer_ headache"

"I don't mean just that, did you not notice how you look like now?" It was not unheard of in the days of old, that humans would get turned into dragons or dragons into humans. The problem with such change was that the person usually went insane, not being able to get used to a completely new body. There were, however, exceptions.

"Oh yeah, this," Groza looked over himself quickly, "I figured you would explain it to me once you finished fighting that dipshit you're unfortunately related to."

"You are right about that, but I better do that somewhere else before your soul is claimed by the earth." His glow was softly fading already.

"Before we go, could you take these for me?" Groza tried to pick up the blood drenched tags from around the neck of his dead body, but failed miserably.

Dayaxa carefully picked up the delicate chainlets and took a second to examine them before putting them with some difficulties on Goza's now substantially bigger neck. The tags and chains that held them immediately changed to match Groza in his ghostly blue color.

Groza curiously watched Dayaxa do something to the snow and when he looked more carefully he could see strange symbols and runes that he didn't know the meaning of. "There is a faster way, but this is significantly safer and comfortable for two dragons." He then instructed him to step beside him in the circle of runes as carefully as he could. That was a bit tricky, Groza wasn't used to taking a long spine covered tail into account while moving.

"Ready?"

"For wha-" Before Groza had the chance to finish his question, there was a flash of light. His already agonizing headache increased tenfold. He whined and clawed at his head in a futile attempt to relieve it. Thankfully Dayaxa was there to make at least some of it go away. Once his mind cleared a little again, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. They were in something that looked like the inside of a cathedral made of white stone.

He was once inside a cathedral during a supply run, and even though it was slowly falling apart, he was amazed by it. This one was at least five times as big and not falling anytime soon. There was one statue for every kind of dragon and some decorative pieces on the walls. Behind the massive windows Groza could see millions of white dots on an inky black background. They were at the end of the massive building before a raised platform that had a few cushions on them.

Dayaxa's happy sigh broke him out of his amazed trance. "Feels good to be home again."

Groza got a sense of deja vu as he thought about what to do now, he had so many questions. But first he wanted to see properly how he looked like now. "Do you have a mirror somewhere?" Dayaxa seemed to be most interested in the massive pillows that laid on the platform, but he broke away from them for a moment to snap his claws.

Out of thin air, a big enough mirror materialized in front of him. Groza took a long look at himself, mesmerized at what he saw. In the mirror, a dragon standing on his back legs and wings stared back at him with orange eyes and cat-like pupils. A mix of purple and black scales covered his body, along with metallic grey spines, a crown of horns with the same color jutted out of the back of his V shaped head.

It was then that something in his mind broke. Groza was taken completely by surprise as the pressure in his head popped and dissipated. Twelve years worth of memories rushed suddenly into his mind. That was what lurked at the edge of his mind when he met Dayaxa, when the god told him about all the species that lived in the world before Ravi hunted down every single one of them and when he saw the carvings in the ritual grounds. _Those are the deaths Riv was talking about._

The memories brought a dull ache to his chest with them. Groza knew it was a life _he_ lived, but it felt so far in the past that he couldn't find it in himself to feel too sad about it. And the knowledge that the one who was ultimately the cause of both his deaths was dealt with prevented the pain from truly taking hold.

Groza also wanted to know why he now remembered twelve years of being a dragon hundreds of years in the past. Was he more dragon or more human? That seemed like an easy answer. Thirty five years were noticeably longer than twelve, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

The mirror disappeared and he came face to face with Dayaxa again. "I assume you want to know why you're in the body of a Skrill." Groza nodded. "Remember what I said about what happens after death?" Another nod. "It seems that your soul wasn't willing to just fade away after your first death and every death that followed. I have no idea how many lives you lived before, but technically, you are ancient."

"Souls are the exact copy of their first bodies until they get absorbed by earth for their energy, so that is why you are now a Skrill." Groza was relieved by the amount of sense this made in such a short amount of time. Fortunately this answer didn't lead to any head splitting questions like many of Dayaxa's other answers often did. That didn't mean he knew all he needed.

"What will happen to me now?"

"I will revert the changes Riv made, we already talked about that. Unfortunately I won't be able to go far enough, so Riv's hunters will begin their purge and I will not be strong enough to get rid of them myself."

Groza connected the dots at that point and wasn't quite sure if it was all that appealing. "That's where I come in."

"Yes"

"What's in it for me?"

"If you succeed, then a second chance at a longer and better life."

Groza thought about this for a while. The last thirty five years were one big battle and he was honestly surprised he didn't go insane from it all, though he was pretty close to that at several points. Alex was essentially one of the very few good things that happened to him and he always wanted Groza to live the best life he could, even when the world around them was a glorified pile of radioactive ash. That ultimately didn't work as well as they both wished it would, and he got the feeling that if Alex was here with him, he would have tried to convince him about all the positives this promised.

_A good life for a few more years of fighting._

"What's the plan?" A fresh start was far more tempting now that he carefully considered all the positives this could bring.

Dayaxa smiled at him, he could see how happy his answer made him. They then talked for a long time about the enemies he would soon be hunting all over the world. The majority of them were humans chosen by Riv himself to erase every bit of evidence that dragons ever existed. Some had more unique methods than others, some were more cruel than others. "The hunters chosen by Riv can't be reasoned with, you could try with the ones that aren't corrupted by his power, however unlikely that is to succeed."

Groza's targets weren't all humans though. There were some dragons that were too corrupted to be kept alive. Some quite sane and able to be set on the righteous path again, some with minds so broken that only death could help them. Temnota the Night Fury was the former case.

She was an interesting dragon. Despite the many atrocities she committed, Temnota and her army fought against the hunters as best as they could and slowed down their progress significantly. "Temnota turned fanatical in her devotion to me the older she got, eventually she got so desperate she tapped into the most forbidden uses of the power she possessed. I cannot with good conscience support blood rituals and sacrifices, no matter the reason."

"I would prefer you try to change her ways. But if she won't accept reason, you will not have any other option than to kill her." Dayaxa sighed. "Temnota's army would grow and soon she would try to achieve her goal of wiping out all of human life."

It wasn't all doom and gloom. There were some places where dragons and humans lived in peace with each other and some places that were neutral. Groza wasn't really surprised to see most of the European continent marked as hostile to dragons. That place was hostile to humans themselves just as it was to dragons. A real surprise was to see one of the Viking islands to be marked on Dayaxa's map as dragon friendly.

Sometimes during his supply runs he would find an intact history book or a school textbook. Groza was somewhat interested in history and so he always found a place for them in his pack. One book he once found was about Vikings. From what he read, he would never expect any Viking to ever consider a dragon as something more than an unholy abomination that crawled from the depths of Hel itself. The fact that area was, according to Dayaxa, absorbed in a three hundred year long war didn't make it anymore believable.

"That got out of control." Dayaxa sheepishly admitted. "The queen of dragons I put in place there had done exactly as I intended for long enough that I eventually turned my full attention to other matters."

"Now that I think about, that was probably Riv's doing as well. What was his goal? I honestly have no idea."

Dayaxa explained everything Groza needed to know without a hint of annoyance in his voice. During his soul's twelve years as a Skrill, he didn't learn that much about the dragon societies of the outside world. He, his parents and two siblings lived on an isolated island near what Groza recognized as Japan. Apparently they were one of the first dragons to die at the hands of Riv's hunters.

Riv's hunters. Why did he need them? If Groza remembered correctly, Dayaxa said his brother was as powerful as himself at that point in time. Couldn't he just use that to think all the dragons out of existence? Unsurprisingly, the dragon god had an answer for this.

"We can influence someone to do as we wish fairly easily, but ending a life like that is a very difficult thing. Simply killing someone the old fashioned way is a lot more easier and practical. But no matter how powerful you are, eradicating an entire species by yourself is an immensely difficult task."

Groza could think of several easier solutions that followed that rule, but there were some unseen complications with those as well for sure, and he wasn't about to give Dayaxa pointers on how to commit genocide.

"I think we both had enough planning for today, and you could use some rest." He was right, but that raised the question where was Groza supposed to sleep. A new cushion appeared on the platform. "There you go, although I wouldn't mind sharing for the time being."

It took a moment for him to process what he just said. "Just let me get used to being a dragon first," Groza quickly shot back before he somewhat awkwardly made himself comfortable on the big mattress or pillow or whatever it was.

* * *

Groza couldn't be sure how long he slept when he came back to the world of the conscious. The sky outside the giant windows looked the same as when he arrived and Dayaxa was nowhere to be seen. He had only his thoughts and dog tags of his long dead friends for company. Moving around was a little strange with two legs and wings instead of just two legs.

 _Speaking of wings._ He tried stretching them in various ways and even flap them. It wasn't as hard as feared it would be, just unusual. Groza could also feel pressure in his chest, not uncomfortable, but noticeable. That had to be his lightning. He had a sudden urge to try it out, but quickly decided against it. His curiosity could wait a little while longer.

"Had a good sleep?"

Groza yelped and spun around. How did someone like Dayaxa manage to be so quiet? "Fuck, don't do that to me man."

He only grinned back at him. "I have something prepared for you today." Dayaxa said and turned around, using his tail to tell him to follow.

"I can't send you to fight a war for me without some proper preparations. Skrill are powerful, but Riv granted his own grunts some powers before he sent them on their mission." They arrived in front of a pedestal that had a strange glowing rock on it, just in the level of Groza's fanged maw. "Crush this in your mouth."

"What exactly will it do to me?" Last time he touched something like this, his life got significantly more complicated.

"It will make you able to draw your power from the moon the same way I and some gifted dragons do. You don't have this gift, so we will have to do a little shortcut." Dayaxa saw Groza was still a little hesitant, which was completely understandable. "During the day you will be slightly stronger than you would normally be, you will notice the biggest difference once the moon comes out."

"Heightened regeneration, stronger lighting and shorter recharge time, heightened physical strength and the ability to cast some simple spells will be available to you. The leaders of the hunter groups and their officers have the same abilities, but during the day." Dayaxa's tone got a little more serious. "Don't use all of your power. Your body won't be able to handle the sudden absence and your heart will stop."

Groza thought about this for a moment, and then grabbed the rock in his mouth. It was a lot easier to crush than he thought, it had the texture of a cookie more than anything. He sucked in a surprised breath and his eyes widened. He felt _powerful_. A sudden urge to tear something apart with his claws made itself known but he suppressed.

"How does it feel?"

"Amazing."

Antoher mirror appeared and Groza turned to examine his reflection again. Every once in a short while, light blue and glowing markings would appear with the shapes of lightning bolts. They seemed to stretch from the edges of his wings and framed his eyes. "Fuck I look good!"

Dayaxa smiled at his response and then urged him to follow again. "Now that we got that out of the way, I'll have to teach you how to fight properly." And he did just that. Groza knew a lot of the basics, but repetition was the mother of wisdom after all. Time passed weirdly in Dayaxa's cathedral, he didn't know if it were days or weeks that he spent there being trained by the god of dragons himself.

Every little bit of awkwardness that Groza felt with his body disappeared soon after they began training. He didn't even notice when it did. He learned everything Dayaxa was sure he would need in his quest. Complex flying maneuvers, fighting styles, survival techniques, nothing was left out. Sometimes his lessons got a little embarrassing, but nothing that Groza couldn't handle.

Groza really enjoyed sparring as a dragon, even more so than a human. Somehow fighting with lightning and claws was more enjoyable than with guns and knives.

Before him stood a pitch black dragon with bright yellow eyes They were sizing each other up, looking for an opening. Dayaxa was an amazing fighter no matter what form he took. The size of his forms, number of limbs or heads didn't seem to affect his speed in the slightest, Groza had to learn that the hard way.

Dayaxa struck first, aiming a bolt of purple plasma at his face. He ducked and fired a bolt of electricity at one of his front paws, intending on taking it out of the fight and throwing his opponent off balance. Dayaxa dodged, as he often did, and lunged forwards for his throat. Groza leapt forwards, pressed his stomach to the ground and lashed upwards with his tail. He had to grinn in satisfaction when he heard a pained roar from above and then behind him. Something warm splashed on his back. His back and tail was covered in incredibly hard and sharp metallic spines.

They fought to the first blood and their fights often lasted only seconds, both lost count of their sparring sessions long ago. They often left some nasty gashes on each other, but since they were in Dayaxa's home that was built on their power source, the moon, the pain was only momentary.

Dayaxa didn't waste a second and immediately casted another form for himself, this time a Stormcutter. They sparred many more times after that, until Dayaxa changed into his usual appearance.

"I think I can't get you more ready than this."

He let Groza rest and disappeared somewhere to prepare for the immensely draining process of undoing Riv's actions. Groza couldn't really sleep, he didn't feel tired at all. Instead he went over everything important that Dayaxa told him about how he should proceed in his hunt. Once he was down on earth again, he would be on his own. Dayaxa would be so drained that he wouldn't be able to help him in nearly any meaningful way.

That was alright. He was used to being alone in suicidal missions.

The sound of claws clicking on stone snapped him back to reality. "It's ready."

Groza nodded and got up from the place he used for the occasional wink of sleep. For a moment they simply looked into each other's eyes in silence before Groza broke the silence. "Thanks, for everything."

"You can thank me by not dying." Dayaxa chuckled. "Good luck."

Groza closed his eyes and felt Dayaxa's scaly palm between them. He could hear Dayaxa saying something before his mind went blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted to write a transformation/reincarnation fic. But I realized doing it the way many others do in this fandom wasn't going to work for me at all. I'm not sure if my take on it is original enough, but you can always prove me wrong in the reviews.
> 
> Originally, Groza was supposed to be a Night Fury, but when I saw how many people have Night Furies as their main characters, I decided a Skrill would be far more interesting. Besides Temnota, I don't plan on giving Night Furies any major roles in this story.
> 
> When I finish this story, I'll probably write down how I came up with this story and it's characters and post it for anyone interested. Believe it or not, I got the first idea for this story during my first playthrough of Metro Exodus.


	7. Prologue

It was a warm, summer morning in the year 2050. On a mountain overlooking an old, crumbling city, a man stood, deep in thought.

Groza hated the location of this mission. He thanked his past self for packing that bottle, because he would need it for this one. After twenty years he would have to return to the concrete grave that was the civilian defense shelter. He had to find and destroy some artifact. The warmth of the alcohol, promise of a good pay and some enemies to kill were the only things distracting him from his past, that resurfaced more and more, as he watched the city.

With a tired a sigh, Groza checked his gear one last time to ensure he wouldn't die because he forgot something. After he was absolutely sure he had everything, he hopped back in his truck and started the engine. Even though the city was already occupied by Nazi Stalkers, they wouldn't notice one more truck hidden by one of the many exits.

The drive felt too short, and for once in his life, Groza wished that this car ride would never end. Too soon he stood before the broken steel doors at the outskirts of the city.

The corridors were damp, dark, and could collapse at any time. Just as Groza remembered it from his younger years. Distant scuttling of rats and mutated spiders created an eerie ambient sound. Moss, cobwebs and strange mushrooms were all over the walls and floors, hiding the heavily rusting pipes and non-functioning emergency lights.

Before entering, he put on his gas mask, just to be safe and his modified NVG's. They gloved with a dim, green light. It took away a _bit_ of the stealth factor but it was great for intimidation.

Groza hesitated one last time, before stepping through the door and into the darkness, not quite ready to face his memories.

* * *

**I have to admit, I'm very nervous. I have wanted to write a How To Train Your Dragon fanfic for... 2 or 3 years now, and I feel weird finally doing it. I have a few chapters pre-written, but I cannot promise you a set upload schedule. I want my chapters to be at least 3k words long, and I am confident that my readers, if I get any, wanting to see more will be the motivation I need to get them done in time.**

**To whoever reads this, please have in my mind that this is my first story I have ever seriously written in English. That's why I want you to be completely honest when reviewing this.**

**That is all I wanted to say, and I hope you will enjoy your stay!**


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